Okay, still working on "I Will Be With You For Evermore", but decided it might be interesting to do a series of oneshots of Beast's perspective throughout the events of the 2017 movie. This way I'll have one thing to work on if I find I need to give my brain a break on the other. Might alternate between the two. Or maybe I'll be on a roll with this one for a bit. So many ideas just swim around in my head!
I'll likely expand on scenes and/or put new scenes in, because I think it would be fun to explore what he's thinking, feeling, and doing off screen.
This first one is just such an off screen exploration, taking place just after Beast sends Maurice away after Belle takes his place. It extends into some on screen stuff to the point he looks at her in the mirror after her dinner refusal.
Well this was just a fine situation. The daughter of a thief has come and taken her father's place in my tower dungeon. I was surprised, and the reason she had given was "he's my father". Well they're both fools, and I told her as much as I started dragging her father away.
And once I got into my room in the west wing and glanced at the cursed rose, something unsettling occurred to me. This was the first female to show up here since the curse was placed upon us. And the rose was well past its prime. I couldn't be sure how long it had been or how much time was left but there was definitely more time behind us than ahead. And I found myself with little doubt that the servants were going to get some bright ideas.
I had given up all hope long ago. Nobody would ever love me. And the arrival of this peasant girl did nothing to instill hope. And besides, this was not just any peasant girl. This just so happened to be the daughter of a common thief. Even if I had hope that someone could break the spell, this disturbing detail did nothing to recommend her for the task.
And yet, I had a disconcerting feeling that my staff would get some idea that this girl could free us all. And a certain candelabra would probably be the ring leader. And they probably would never let me hear the end of it. Perhaps I should never have agreed to the trade.
And at dinner time, when I discovered the table had been set for two, my suspicions were confirmed. I cleared the table with a swipe of a paw.
"LUMIERE!" I roared the name of the aforementioned certain candelabra as I went to confront the staff.
And sure enough they thought it would be a great idea if we ate dinner together. And, sure enough, Lumiere seemed to be the mastermind. Apparently they, particularly Lumiere I'm sure, thought to remove her from the cell up in the tower and put her in an east wing bedroom. I was not amused.
"She's the daughter of a common thief," I pointed out. "What do you think that makes her?"
Leave it to Mrs. Potts to respond with something with which I couldn't argue. That seemed a habit of hers, and she was really the only servant who could do that kind of thing without me putting her in her place.
"You can't judge a person by who their father is, now can you?" the teapot pointed out.
At some point during this whole fiasco Lumiere also pointed out something I couldn't argue with.
"With each passing day we become less human."
This was true. The curse was more severe on the staff. With each enchanted rose petal that fell they all became more like the inanimate objects they would eventually become. Then I would be completely alone. My selfishness didn't allow me much concern for their sakes, but I was dreading the thought that one day, in the not too distant future, I would be completely alone. And, though I couldn't admit it out loud, there was the occasional prick of guilt that they were all, for all intents and purposes, slowly dying for a choice I had made. The sadness in Lumiere's voice caused just such a prick.
Fine. I decided I'd go along with it, if for no other reason than to prove to them what a foolish idea they'd gotten into their heads. It all happened so quickly it was sort of a blur. But I do remember it being an utter disaster. I ordered her to come to dinner. She didn't respond at first. The staff told me to be gentle. I tried that approach. A 'just a minute' from the girl prompted Lumiere to advise a smile when she opened the door. He asked to see the smile. Quite predictably, nobody liked the result. Seriously everybody? I thought to myself. What did you expect? I have fangs, remember? I asked if she'd join me for dinner. She refused. We yelled at each other. We banged the door at each other. And she said she'd starve before she ate with me.
"Be my guest!" I yelled angrily. "Go ahead and starve!" I ordered that if she would not eat with me then she was not to eat at all. "IDIOTS!" I yelled as I stormed off.
Idiots! Fools! Cretins! I said to myself as I ran into the west wing. What were they thinking? Has the curse finally robbed them of any sense at all?
This girl irritated me. She dared to yell at me and refused a direct order. And yet this also fascinated me. No one had shown that kind of audacity before. Come to think of it, it was fascinating that she pushed her father out of the dungeon cell and slammed the door, locking herself in forever. Or what would have been forever if a certain candelabra hadn't taken leave of his senses and put her in a room. I took up the mirror next to the rose. Another gift left behind by the enchantress.
"Show me the girl."
There she sat, a prisoner. She knew she was a prisoner. I knew she was a prisoner. She was the daughter of a common thief. And despite the kernel of wisdom from Mrs. Potts, one could have a fairly good idea of the character of another by who their father is. After all, I grew up to be the same, selfish, vain monster my father was. And now I'm cursed with the beastly appearance to prove it.
I set the mirror down. No, she could never love me. And besides, I would have to let her into my melancholy heart. I'd have to learn to love. I'd have to love her first. And how could I love the daughter of a common thief?
I briefly considered going and putting her back in the cell. But I decided against it. Somehow it didn't seem quite right. She was already in a room. She might as well stay there. Hopefully, the staff has learned their lesson at her door and would let the whole 'this girl might be the one' business rest.
Somehow, I had a feeling that wasn't going to happen. Not anytime soon anyway.